Iím working on tug drive with both the younger two and I have an opinion question. Whatís fair game? Namely with paws.
Do you allow pushing against you with a paw? Do you allow banking off you to grab at a tug you mean for them to leap for? Bear in mind that my ďlittleĒ dog tugging is 80 pounds and the bigger one is 130 pounds.

__________________

"We become better trainers by refusing to swallow uncritically what is tossed to us as truth,
by developing our powers of empathy and observation,
and by searching for better ways to teach and educate the dogs we love."

Denis won't allow Backup to circle tug. He always tugs to the left with me dragging me in circles. Sloan tugs straight backwards. I have heard a theory that dogs trained by women do the side to side or circle tugging while with men they do straight back. I don't know any validity in it but it made me laugh when I heard it.

Wait. So are you guys saying Iím the only idiot who plays tug with 130 pounds worth of dog?

Iím sporting a lovely bruised scratch on my thigh where the mouthy bitch decided to ďgripĒ me with her paw - the bruise and scratch was THROUGH my jeans. She has dew claws and isnít afraid to use them. It hurt LOL.

__________________

"We become better trainers by refusing to swallow uncritically what is tossed to us as truth,
by developing our powers of empathy and observation,
and by searching for better ways to teach and educate the dogs we love."

Denis won't allow Backup to circle tug. He always tugs to the left with me dragging me in circles. Sloan tugs straight backwards. I have heard a theory that dogs trained by women do the side to side or circle tugging while with men they do straight back. I don't know any validity in it but it made me laugh when I heard it.

Hrm... Mine do both. I prefer the circles, because straight back full on butt bounce tugging is probably more than my middle aged ligaments should have to deal with.

__________________

"We become better trainers by refusing to swallow uncritically what is tossed to us as truth,
by developing our powers of empathy and observation,
and by searching for better ways to teach and educate the dogs we love."

Wait. So are you guys saying Iím the only idiot who plays tug with 130 pounds worth of dog?

Iím sporting a lovely bruised scratch on my thigh where the mouthy bitch decided to ďgripĒ me with her paw - the bruise and scratch was THROUGH my jeans. She has dew claws and isnít afraid to use them. It hurt LOL.

Should we share pics? I just finished healing a bruise from the same thing

I allow basically anything - I don't even get too bothered by teeth on skin if it is clearly an accidental glancing. Meg has zero natural tug drive - it is all created, and my deal with her is that it is all okay. Any correction and that would probably be the end of tugging with her. She's soft enough that she almost never touches skin anyway.

Gusto is a tugging machine, and I love it. He does have to drop it when I say Gimme and not grab until I say Okay. Beyond that, if he wants to climb on my head to tug or growl like a lunatic, he can. He does occasionally catch a bit of skin, generally when I'm holding whatever we are tugging on in a stupid way. Never broken skin or even left a mark, just hit me with a tooth. If he was lunging at my hands, I might rethink the rules.